


October prompts: Blood loss

by theonetruenorth



Series: October writing prompts 2020 [10]
Category: Detroit: Become Human (Video Game)
Genre: Bad Puns, M/M, Mission Gone Wrong, October prompts 2020, Thirium loss, Whumptober
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-11
Updated: 2020-10-11
Packaged: 2021-03-07 16:35:15
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,183
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26940742
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/theonetruenorth/pseuds/theonetruenorth
Summary: Whatever Hank was about to reply was cut short by Nines calling out to him. His voice was steady, it always was, but for some reason Hank thought he could hear something hiding underneath, a tone that betrayed the fact he was not as composed as he pretended to be.“Detective Anderson, we’ve found him.”“Fuck!” Reed’s voice. “Fucking hell, cut him down.”
Relationships: Hank Anderson/Connor, Upgraded Connor | RK900/Gavin Reed
Series: October writing prompts 2020 [10]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1948783
Comments: 5
Kudos: 119





	October prompts: Blood loss

**Author's Note:**

> Not beta-read.  
> Implied pairings, but could be read as Gen. Nines is called 'Nines' because of widely accepted fanon and I couldn't really find a name I found suitable for RK900, so... 'Nines' it is.

The temperature in the warehouse was barely above freezing, but Hank couldn’t afford to pay attention to how cold he was. The darkness of his surroundings provided good cover and he spared a look towards the rest of the team - Reed, Nines and Wilson - as they crept forward from one shadowed cover to the other. One more door separated them from the actual hideout they needed to get to. Their objective had turned from infiltration to a rescue mission.

Hank never should have agreed to Connor’s plan.

He knew Connor was capable. As a unique model he wasn’t easily recognizable as an android once his LED was removed. He had enough experience and knowledge in his database to successfully go undercover. There was a new influx of modified Red Ice on the Detroit market - one with higher concentration of thirium, twice as deadly as before. Thirium shipments had been reported stolen every other day. Not only that, the police also got more and more missing android cases. They were even being kidnapped from the streets in broad daylight.

But of course something went wrong with the mission. They lost contact with Connor a couple hours ago and finally, _finally_ , the higher ups gave them a green light to go in and deal with the situation. Waiting for their permission - not knowing what had happened to his partner - was a torture for Hank.

Nines took point when they got to the final door. There were voices on the other side. Hank only nodded to the rest of the team and Nines had busted the door down before going in first. The drug dealers refused to go without a fight and the shootdown that happened next was short and bloody.

“Wilson, you okay?” Hank asked as the shots finally stopped. The officer was crouching behind one of the crates, clutching his wounded arm.

“Yeah, it’s just a graze. Looks worse than it is.” He paused. “Did we get them all?”

Whatever Hank was about to reply was cut short by Nines calling out to him. His voice was steady, it always was, but for some reason Hank thought he could hear something hiding underneath, a tone that betrayed the fact he was not as composed as he pretended to be.

“Detective Anderson, we’ve found him.”

“Fuck!” Reed’s voice. “Fucking hell, cut him down.”

Hank barely had a second to think before he was moving, running to the back of the room and behind one of the empty shipping containers. He came around the corner just in time to see Reed bracing himself to accept Connor’s weight and lower him to the floor as Nines undid the rope that held him suspended.

Fuckers had strung his partner upside down like a piece of meat in a freezer.

“Fuck,” Hank cursed as he dropped to his knees next to Connor and tried to assess the damage. Connor was shirtless, part of his chest opened to show the components beneath and thin tubes connected to them in a way Hank knew they shouldn’t be. “What did they do to him?”

“They drained him of thirium,” Nines said, kneeling next to them and scanning the surroundings for a moment. “I do not see any spare thirium we could use to replace it.”

Connor’s eyes were open, but Hank wasn’t sure he could actually see them. There was an unnatural stillness to him, more than what was normal for androids, and Hank tried not to let panic overtake him. Prolonged lack of thirium meant all the important biocomponents were susceptible to damage, including the AI processors and memory banks.

There was no recovering from that.

“How long do we have until he shuts down?” Hank asked, turning towards Wilson when he heard the man talking through his phone, calling for the emergency transport for the android clinic. 

“Not long enough,” Nines said and quickly took off his jacket, tossing it to Reed who fumbled a bit before catching it. “If I don’t help him now he’s not going to make it.”

“Shit, tin can, do you even know what you are doing?” Reed’s voice turned up a little higher whenever something knocked him off balance like that.

“The only thing I can, Gavin,” Nines said, his voice still unnervingly calm, as he undid his own shirt buttons and a section of his skin bled away to reveal white plastic underneath. He dug his fingers in and a hatch popped open with surprising ease. “Saving his life.”

Hank could do nothing but sit here, Connor’s head resting in his lap, and watch as the other android took the tubes hanging out from Connor’s chest and stuck them inside of himself. It took a moment of digging around to connect them and soon Hank could see thirium filling up the tubes, going from Nines and into Connor. Nines’ hands were stained blue up to his wrists when he finally pulled them out. His shirt looked no better.

“How dangerous is it for you?” Hank asked, not sure if he wanted the answer or not. More than anything, he just wanted Connor to _live_. 

“It’s not optimal,” Nines said with a shrug, “but sharing thirium with him won’t kill me in the long run. Some of my systems will have to be put on standby until we get help. It is, however, the only chance he has before the clinic technicians get here.”

“You better not damage yourself before it’s over,” Gavin said as he crouched next to them, Nines’ jacket still in his hands. “I don’t have time or patience to break in a new partner.”

“You don’t need to worry about me.” Nines gave them that not-really-smile of his. Hank still couldn’t read the other android. Despite being _almost_ a spitting image of Connor, their personalities were very different. Connor was expressive and friendly, where Nines was reserved and really fucking hard to read most of the time. “I’ll be fine.”

It took what seemed to Hank like a small eternity before he finally felt Connor move. Those beautiful brown eyes blinked up at him a couple of times, before slowly shifting to the rest of the team gathered around him, focusing on Nines and the tubes connecting them.

“I thought you would be happy to see me,” Connor said, his voice rough, as if his voice box got somehow damaged. “You don’t have to look so _blue_.”

“No,” Hank growled and would have cuffed Connor’s head if the android wasn’t still looking like he was one step away from shutting down, “absolutely not. You don’t get to crack jokes when all of your insides are out on display.”

“Thirium loss can cause all sorts of irrational behavior,” Nines said, nodding his head a little, tone still cool and collected. “It’s _cyantifically_ proven.”

Hank just stared for a long moment.

“You fucking didn’t,” Reed said and even though his words were angry he actually sounded like someone had just told him Santa was real.

“No.” Hank closed his eyes and prayed to whomever would listen to grant him patience. “Just… no.”


End file.
